Cinematograph apparatus.



A. S. NEWMAN.

CINEMATOGRAPH APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, 1915.

Patented J 1111a 29, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET] THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHUTO'LITHO" WASHINGHJM D.

A. s. NEWMAN. CINEMATOGRAPH APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, I915.

Patented June 29, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHO'IOiITHCL. WASHINGTON. n. C

A. S. NEWMAN.

CINEMATOGRAPH APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR I7 I915 1,144,774, Patented June 29, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. S. NEWMAN.

GINEMATOGRAPH APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11. 1915.

1,144,774. Patented June 29, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

PHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR S. NEWMAN, 0F I-IIGHGATE, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO THOMAS HORACE BOLAM AND ONE-THIRD T0 SIDNEY NORMAN BARNARD, BOTH OF WEST EALING, ENGLAND.

CINEMATOGRAPI-I APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR SAMUEL NEWMAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Highgate, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cinematograph Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to that type of cinematograph apparatus for home use, producing a series of pictures in spiral form around a film the ends of which are joined together.

Such an apparatus has been provided with a long rotating cam giving a quick rising and a slow falling motion to a lever pivoted on a carriage, and a pawl on said lever has given intermittent rotary motion to a nut or its equivalent on a feed screw, thus giving an intermittent lateral motion to the carriage, and a worm wheel on the cam shaft has given motion to a worm wheel on the shutter shaft. Such an apparatus is shown and described in the specification of British Letters Patent No. 20,365 of 1913. With such apparatus some difficulty was expe rienced in threading up the film upon the pair of sprockets by which it was driven. and during this operation the lead screw was supported at one end only and the lamp carrier was supported by a bracket attached to one end only of the frame. Such a construc tion necessitated careful use.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these difficulties and to otherwise improve the machine.

One method of carrying the invention into elfect is shown in the accompanying draw ings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of the mechanism removed from its box and with the shutter and shutter casing removed. Fig. 2 is a plan of the mechanism showing part of the box in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 seen in the direction indicated by the arrows. In addition this view shows the casing for the inner shutter used for projecting. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing merely the film driving mechanism. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the film driving mechanism seen from the opposite side to Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the shutter used for projecting. Fig. 7 a reap Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 17, 1915.

Patented June 29, 1915.

Serial No. 14,939.

of film to be used with the apparatus. Fig.

10 is a detail view of part'of Fig. 10. Fig. 11 is a detail view showing a further modification enabling diiferent lengths of film to be used with the apparatus.

a is the base plate carrying vertical end plates 0., (1. and intermediate vertical plate a 0 A front plate a is carried by the vertical plates a, a A main driving shaft 5, mounted in bearings in the plates a, (4 has at one end a handle 5 and at the other end a toothed wheel 5 This latter gives motion to a smaller toothed wheel 0' mounted on the end of the shaft 0 on which is fixed the cam 0 On this shaft 0 is also fixed the worm wheel 0 giving motion to the worm wheel (Z on the shutter shaft (Z mounted in a fixed bearing carried by the plate a On the shaft (Z is fixed the shutter d shown fully in Fig. 6. Itis partly seen in Fig. 2 located within the flanged shutter lens n On the end of the shaft (Z is mounted the shutter (Z shown in Figs. 2, 7 and 7, which is used for exposures. (Z is pushed onto the shaft (Z after the machine has been placed. in its light-tight case f shown in section in Fig. 2. This exterior shutter has a projection d" which enters a recess (Z in the mounting of the inner shutter (Z thus insuring that the interior and exterior shutters are placed properly with respect to each other on the shaft (Z. The exterior shutter consists of two blades (Z which slide over each other and are clamped together by the hub portion (Z made in two parts the one screwing onto the other, by which means the exposure may be varied.

The cam 0 gives motion to the front end of the main lever g, the rear end of which is pivotally mounted on the rod in forming part of the carriage. The lever g has pivoted thereto, as shown clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, a connecting rod 9, the other end of which is pivoted to a projection g on the lever 9 fixed uponone end of the sleeve 9* This shutter mounted upon a rod 71; also forming part of the carriage.

A second lever shown in Fig. 8 is fixed on the other end of the sleeve 9 and surrounding the sleeve is a coiled spring 9 which presses the levers g downward and, through the connecting rod 9, keeps the main lever g in contact with the cam 0 Each lever has pivoted toits outer end a claw against the heel of which presses a p i 9 ca r d by.. 1 v 9 A claw and a lever 9% thus normally move asa singlepiece due to the friction between the spring and claw g Each claw g. has a laterally 'arojecting .pin g whichis located within a vertical. guide The up per ends of the claw are in ,line' with the rows of perforations 2", in the film 2'.

The claws g actin the following manner: rlstlie lever is, raised at its forward end, owing to the rotationof the cam 0 the claw moves therewith as already stated. Both parts move around the rod h and the end ofthe claw g enters a perforation z" in the film i. T he laterally projecting pin g engages against the front of the vertical guide 9 and runs up said guide so long as the lever g is being lifted. vVhen the lever begins to fall, it and the claw 9 again move as a single piece and rotatearound the rod 71 The end of the claw g is by this movement withdrawn from the per-foration 2'. in the film 2', but the backward motion of the claw is arrested by the pin 9 coming into contactfwiththe rea'rportion of the vertical guide 9 The pin g v then runs downthe rear portion of the. vertical guide until the lever g arrives at the lowest position of its downward motion, when the lever g and claw 9 again rotate around the rod h and the claw g enters another perforationi in the film The lever g has a lateral pin which passes onto the fixed support a (Fig. 1) when the carriage has completed its, motion and all the pictures have been taken or projected, after which the cam 0 may con tinue to rotate without, giving further motion to' the carriage or film.

The film carriage is moved laterally at each upward movement by means of apawlj pivoted on the lever 9 which pawl engages the ratchet .teeth j on a sleeve 9' on the lead screw 76. The. sleeve 7' is connected to the film carriage by means of a small plate j which overlaps the teeth j, see Fig. 5, and has a spring-pressed part jtwhich engages with the thread in the screw is, so that as the sleeve v 7' is rotated, it moves on the screw gives lateral motion to the film carriage. The spring-pressec'l. part j will, however, slide over the thread when lateral pressure is applied to the carriage to return it to its original position. The lead screw is may be rotated by the milled disk is for the purina'sk me pose of moving the carriage laterally to accurately adjust the pictures to the mask, as described in the aforesaid British specification.

The film carriage Z, which consists of longitudinal bars and vertical bars, has a U- shaped guide Z which slides along the fixed rod a and two guides Z one of which is seeninFig. ,3 and the other in Fig. 4:, which slide along the lead screw is. The carriage, as previously stated, carries therods h, h, which are not shown in Fig, 8 which merely shows the film guiding: mechanism. The carriage also carries at one end afixed vertical guide E, and at the other end a pivoted vertical guide Z under which the film slides. Thepivotedvertical guide Z? has a handle Z by which it may be moved when it is desired to place the film in position or to remove it from the carriage. The pivoted guide Z is retained in its open or its closed position bymjeans Ora spring Z until moved by its handle Z The carriage has also a plate spring Z fixed at its center, the ends of which press theedgesot the film forward against the guides Z Z Indjigs. 8' and 9 the pivoted guided? is shown open ready to receive a, and one side of the. spring Zf, being unrestrained, projects forward more than it would do when acting on a The condenser tube m is carried by a plate m'flhinged atone end at m to a part fined. to tl're vertical plate cf. At the other end the plate mf isprovided with a spring catch ,YVhen, the plate m is swung a wa dpi i s hin e m 1 m t n of which ,have already been, connected, may

be placed in iposition in the guides Z Z after w hich, the plate .m may be swung torward until it, is held by. its Catch m The connected film is suiliciently long to allow the plate to swing into its forward locked position through the center of the film without disconnecting the ends thereof.

The condenser tube m carries an adjustable lamp h older similar to that shown and describedyin ,the aforesaid British specification. In Fig. 8 the spring 1 nask m which. is carried by the condenser tube m,

is shown in dottedlines. I

The mask m is seen in plan lIl Flgj. 2. ,The ob ective lens mount a is fixed to the plate a?. m," is the focusing lever and n is a removable stop, both of known construction. A pairof vertical bars of, carried by the objective lens .tube 77/, see Fig. 2, projects through part of v the carriage. Against these bars W the film is pressed by the spring It willbeob'served that the film carriage Z is located between the film and the objective lens mount, a.

It willibeunderstood that the lateral motion of the film must be such that when the endless fihn has been rotated once, the film will be moved laterally through a distance equal to the width of a picture, otherwise the pictures 29 would overlap or space would be wasted between them. The necessary lateral motion of the film will therefore depend upon the length of the film. It is proposed to construct the appartus to give an exhibition lasting about a minute, as such a length of film is convenient for an amateur to develop, does not cost too much, and does not require a large box. Such an apparatus is shown in Figs. 1 to It is, however, proposed to sell longer positive films for use with the same apparatus, which will necessitate an alteration in the lateral travel of the carriage. In Fig. 10 is shown a mod ification enabling two lengths of film to be used. The ratchet wheel 7" is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 9 and is suitable for films giving an exhibition lasting about one minute. This view shows a pawl j mounted on a short pin 0 located at a certain distance from the rod h on which the lever 9 turns. The pawl y' thus mounted, is suitable for driving the ratchet teeth A second set of ratchet teeth 7' is fixed on the sleeve j This set 7' contains double the number of teeth contained in the set j. The

lever is provided with a second and longer pin 0 which is nearer to the fulcrum rod h and consequently receives less motion. A second pawl 9' on the pin 0 in the same plane as the teeth 7' will receive a suitable motion to engage with such teeth. hen both pawls j, 3' are in action the pawl 7' will be driving the sleeve j but if this be thrown out of action, the pawl 1' on the pin 0 will then drive the said sleeve by the teeth j. l

The pawl (see Fig. 10) may have two fiats 7' j against one of which a spring y' presses to cause the pawl to engage the teeth, and against the other of which the spring acts to hold pawl out of action.

In the modification shown in Fig. 11, the

sleeve f has a single .set of small teeth 7'" and the pawl may be arranged at different positions along the slot 9 in the lever g to engage one, two or three of said small teeth 3" at each oscillation of-the lever 9 What I claim is 1. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, and

an objective lens mount, the carriage being located between the film and the objective lens mount, substantially as set forth.

2.. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same vertically, a pawl operated by the main lever, a

sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw permanently supported at both ends on which the sleeve is mounted, part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw,

a fixed objective lens mount, a shutter shaft mounted in a fixed bearing, and a shutter on said shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the .main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, an

objective lens mount, the carriage being lo-,

cated between the film and the objective lens mount, a condenser tube provided with a spring mask, means for allowing the condenser tube to. be moved backward away from the carriage to allow the'film to be placed in positioiron the carriage, and means for retaining the condenser tube in its forward position with the mask in contact with the film, substantially as set forth.

4;. In cinematograph apparatus, the co1i1- bination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same,

a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriageand havnngteeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on thesleeve to the travel of the carriage, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, an objective lens mount, the carriage being located between the film and the objective lens mount, a fixed guide on one edge of said carriage, a pivoted spring-pressed guide on the other edge of said carriage, and springs on saidcarriage which press the edges of the film against said guides, substantially as set forth.

6. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam, a laterally sliding carriage, guides'on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same vertically, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw permanently supported at both ends on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, a fixed objective lens mount, a shutter shaft mounted in a fixed bearing, a shutter on said shaft located within the box, a recess in the mounting of said shutter, a second shutter on the shutter shaft located outside the box, and a projection on the outside shutter which fits into the recess in the mounting of the inner shutter, substantially as set forth.

7. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally sliding carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, a lead screw on which the sleeve" is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, an objective lens mount, the carriage being located between the fiinr and the objective lens mount, a lateral projection on the main lever,- and a fixed support onto which the lateral projection passes at the end of the travel of the carriage so tliatit can no longer be acted upon by the cam, substantially as set forth.-

8'. In cinematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally slidi'ng carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, a pair of claws operated by the main lever the ends of which enter the perforations in the film and drive the same, a plurality of pawls, a second lever on which said pawl's' are pivoted in different positions said second lever being operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawls, and a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a part on the sleeve engaging the thread of the lead screw, substantially as set forth;

9. In cin'ematograph apparatus, the combination of a rotating cam equal in length to the travel of the carriage, a laterally slid ing carriage, guides on said carriage for the film, a main lever on said carriage moved by the cam, two other levers operated by the main lever, a pair of film driving claws pivoted on the two last mentioned levers, friction springs mounted on these levers and bearing against the heels of the claws, a lateral projection 'on each claw, a vertical guide in which each lateral projection is located, a pawl operated by the main lever, a sleeve connected to the carriage and having teeth driven by said pawl, and a lead screw on which the sleeve is mounted, a spring-pressed part on the sleeve engaging the thread on the lead screw,- substantially as set forth.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR S. NEWVMAN.

' Witnesses:

CLAUDE K. MILLS, WM. GIRLING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gom'missi-oner of Patents. Washington; D. G. 

